Son of Saul

October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Auslñder is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the body of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child's body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner's Kaddish.

A truly remarkable film. It deals with a most serious topic that many find hard to deal with.
This film depicts the horror of people being humiliated, degraded, dehumanized, exterminated in the background of the story while the main character is in focus. Yet the out-of- focus pictures and sounds in the background accurately tell what is going on and the hell people are going through. What is worrisome is the seeming routine professionalism with which the work of the Nazis is carried out with precision - lies of the fate ahead, counting and order and marching of the conscripted workers of limited shelf life.
It is a disturbing, but most effective film of the horrors executed in the extermination camps.
These incidents were not just an aberration in modern history, it keep happening.
This film is relevant today since we see rising waves of anti-antisemitism again in our world.

This is a great film; not an exciting film--as Americans and so many gamers, we are used to continuous sound-bites: you won't find that within this film, but you will experience a little of the horror, the inhumanity, the savagery inherent in the German. They all knew, every single one of them. My hatred for American Jews is because they didn't learn a thing; they are like a mindless borg voting for the illicit Kenyan who hates them and adopting liberal attitudes when it is liberals who institute holocausts. I am a strong supporter of Israel and the true Jews; so, I'll add this to Schlinder's List and The Final Days, and the Pianist and others which need to be seen so that the monstrosity that was the Reich will not be forgotten.

This is a 2015 Hungarian war-time drama directed by László Nemes.
Set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, the camera follows Saul Ausländer closely and only leaves him right before the end of the film.
It is a strange and unbelievable story in terms of cinematography as well as theme itself.

Borrowing from lindy919 below - this movie is "excruciating". IMO well worth the Oscar it received. But not for the feint of heart.
A short while into this movie, i knew, in general, the plot and wondered if i really wanted to watch but it was so well acted/directed/composed that i continued. There was some gruesome scenes but in general, most of it was implied. What was included was partially out of focus.

Gut-wrenching! This film is just gut-wrenching! It is set in a concentration camp during World War 2. There isn't a lot of dialogue in it which makes it even more powerful! It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film of 2015.

Excruciatingly artsy movie shot from the POV of the protagonist. In other words, for at least 75% of the movie most of the screen is taken up by either his face or the back of his head. According to IMDB, this effect is to show the claustrophobic blah, blah, blah. It did not work for me. I only lasted about 15 minutes. I did fast forward to see if the rest of the movie was shot this way. It was. What a shame, it sounded like a good story.

A very personal look at the life of a jewish POW. He works in the crematorium and one day discovers a boy. It becomes his mission in life to find a rabbi so that the boy can have a proper burial. It Is all so hopeless.

Quotes

Intro at start of film: Sonderkommando: a German expression. The term was used in concentration camps for prisoners with special statuses, who were also referred to as "the knowers of the secrets" (Geheimnisträger). The members of the Sonderkommando are separated from the rest of the camp, working for a couple of months before they would be killed as well.
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Doctor: What's your name?
Saul: Auslander. Saul.
===
Oberkapo: Bury? The prayer is enough.
Saul: I have the body. Help me!
Oberkapo: Get lost. You know the Kaddish? I'll say it for him. What's his name? There's nothing more we can do.
Saul: That's not enough! You know as well!
===
Oberkapo: Why did you bring here this one?
Saul: He is a rabbi. For the dead.
Oberkapo: We take care of our own dead. People come to see me for that.
Saul: I did come to see you!
Oberkapo: And I did say the Kaddish. This one a rabbi? He's just a bearded thief!

Oberscharführer: How much is left to deal with?
Oberkapo: One thousand, Oberscharführer.
Oberscharführer: One thousand?
Oberkapo: One thousand...
Oberscharführer: We expect three times more tonight. So let's do it like this: we must finish by dawn. At each passage, 2 men, 1 woman 1 child. Clean the ashes every second round, and ventilate the air every 12 minutes. You are responsible. Understood?
Oberkapo: Yes, Oberscharführer.
Oberscharführer: When you finish, cleaning and disinfection for the next transport. Dismissed
===
Oberkapo: We will die because of you two.
Saul: We are already dead.
===
Oberscharführer: What are you doing? We need you here!
Oberkapo: My men can no longer work. There are clothes piled up to the ceiling. We must put them to the warehouse.
===
- Where are they going?
- To the pits. The furnaces can't take no more.

Age

Summary

October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the body of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child's body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner's Kaddish. 96%/81%